I'll Always Find You
by Troll99
Summary: What happened after Selene finds Michael gone and stands on the roof with her daughter and David? Where is Michael? My idea of what could have happened after that. Post Awakening.
1. Chapter 1

_The story begins with the last scene of Underworld: Awakening and continues from there. My idea what could happen further, the product of my imagination and desire to know more than the movie told us._

_Unfortunately, I don't own anything of the Underworld franchise (if I did, Selene, Michael and Eve would already be reunited), mine are the plot and all mistakes._

* * *

**I'll Always Find You**

Selene stood on the roof of the Antigen company, her daughter's hand in her own, just staring into darkness. Her mind was a whirlpool of different emotions and thoughts, but they all orbited

around one and the same thing: Michael. She had seen him for a brief moment and then she lost him again. Her eyes brimmed with unshed tears and she couldn't think of anything else but her mate. The man, the only man she ever loved, was again somewhere in the foggy distance, and she knew that her chances to find him if he wouldn't want to be found were very slim. But she wouldn't give up. She wouldn't rest until she had found him again.

"Mommy?" Eve's soft voice finally managed to tear her out of her almost catatonic state and she averted her teary sad eyes towards her daughter.

Eve looked up into her mother's eyes and she saw an indescribable pain there. Pain over losing someone she loved with the last fiber of her body, pain over fearing the dark future alone. And yet there was something else in those dark eyes too; something Eve dreamed of seeing in the eyes of someone: love for her daughter. She may have not known that she became mother just few hours ago, but Selene learned to love this little girl with all that was left of her broken heart. At the moment, she was the only thing that connected her with Michael.

She just looked into the eyes of her daughter, eyes that reminded her of her lover, eyes that could turn into pitch black ones in a matter of seconds. Eve might be an abomination to everyone else, but to her she was the beautiful result of the love, she and Michael shared. She swore to herself, she would never allow anyone to hurt their daughter. The fact, that Eve was probably more powerful than her, didn't change her mind a bit. Her daughter was still a little girl, she didn't know her real powers, she had been kept in the dark for the most of her short life. And Selene took over the task of teaching her about life without even really thinking of it. It came to her as most natural thing to take care of her daughter.

"Mommy?" Eve's eyes gazed into Selene's questioningly, but there was also understanding in them. Understanding that her mother was still lost in this new world, understanding that her mother again lost the man she loved, her father. "We'll find him!" she said convincingly. "We'll find my father!"

Selene felt how tears threaten to spill over upon hearing her daughter's words and fought against it. Eve might have been a little girl, only 11 years old, but her eyes, staring into hers were wise beyond her age, wise beyond the adulthood. And yet she knew that Eve was just trying to comfort her; as if she would not have been kept prisoner just minutes ago, destined to be used like a guinea pig. She felt how her throat began to constrict, she felt how her heart began to beat faster. Her little girl was trying to comfort her, regardless of the fact that she never before experienced anything remotely similar to love. "I hope so Eve." She managed to say with tight voice. She didn't trust herself to manage anything more, so she reassuringly squeezed Eve's hand, receiving a gentle squeeze in response. She finally got her tears under control.

"We should be going. The police and everyone else will be here any minute." David's calm voice interrupted the moment of bonding that the woman and the girl shared upon loss of a lover and a father. Selene swallowed hard, wiped her eyes with her hand unnecessarily and turned to the vampire who turned out to be the only friend she had amongst her own kind.

She nodded: "Correct. We should lay low for a while." Then she looked at David thoughtfully: "You put yourself in danger by helping me too. Do you have a safe house?"

David nodded with a hint of a smile: "I do." Without losing any more words, he turned and started towards the stairs with quick pace.

Selene and Eve followed him wordlessly, but still holding hands. Somehow Selene needed this contact and she had the feeling that it was the same for Eve. They were more or less alone in this world, at least for the moment. Sure, David was a good friend, but nothing more than that. Selene needed the love of her life, Eve needed her father and there was only one person who could fill this position … Michael.

Selene shook her head slightly and concentrated on the task at hand – finding a safe place where they could stay and plan what to do next. Besides finding Michael, Selene wanted to help the remaining vampires to take their position once again. She knew that it would be a difficult, almost impossible task. Before, there were only lycans who fought with her kind for the domination, now there were also humans. But she was determined to overcome all obstacles and she could only hope to find Michael soon. Without him, she had no one with mentionable fighting experience to help her. At least she and David knew of no one.

The trio raced down the staircase towards the garage where they hoped to find a car to get away before police arrived. Selene hoped that detective Sebastian managed to get help for his broken arm and instantly wondered why she cared for someone, whom she just met, additionally for an ordinary human. _He was the second human to help me without questions. The second one after Michael!_

In the garage, Selene took the initiative: "Let's find a car." Her voice was flat and emotionless, just like it could be expected from the best Death Dealer that ever roamed the face of Earth. She scanned the garage quickly and between car wrecks and torn bodies, she spotted a car that looked undamaged. She strode purposefully towards it, Eve following in her steps, while David trotted a little behind mother and daughter.

Locked door presented no problem to her. She simply tore it open. "Get in!" Her command was directed at no one specific and she didn't even spare her both companions a look. Before the both could react, she was already in the car, jamming her dagger into the lock and the machine started.

Eve jumped in the back seat while David hurried around the car to get into the co-driver's seat. He got in and before he managed to close the door, Selene already drove off with screeching tyres.

Grabbing at the dashboard to steady himself and avoid falling into Selene's lap, David already opened his mouth to say something, but as he saw the vampiress' stony expression, he clamped his mouth shut. In the short time he now knew her, he learned that she was not to be addressed when in such mood. Actually, she was never to be talked to casually. He asked himself for umpteenth time how she was before, when she had her lover by her side. Just little glimpses of emotions, when she looked at Eve, told him that she was not as cold as she appeared to be.

Selene didn't pay any attention to her two companions, she drove towards the exit from the garage with highest possible speed, once even scraping the wall, but without any mentionable consequences. As soon as they exited the garage and literally jumped over the ramp on the street, they heard the sirens approaching from the other direction.

They sped along the almost empty street and Selene dodged two cars, which drove according to the speed limit like they would be standing. David held on the handle and remembered the similar experience when they were running from the lycans after finding Eve. The only difference was that now there were no lycans hot on their tails. No, no lycans but probably the complete police and task force and who knows who else too. Their only advantage was that the police didn't know yet who and where they were.

"Where to?" Selene almost barked in the uneasy silence in the car. She cast a quick glance in the rearview mirror to see Eve in the back of the car, staring at her mother with expression that was probably half way between adoration and annoyance. The vampiress' eyes instantly softened.

David missed the quiet exchange and pointed forward: "Three more blocks then turn right. And Selene …" He broke off and turned to look at her. She gave him an annoyed look and raised one eyebrow in silent question. "You can slow down. No one is following us and it would be less suspicious if you wouldn't drive like you were taking a part in a race."

Selene grumbled something incomprehensible and slowed down. She knew that David was right and decided to follow his advice.

"Better!" David gave her a half smile.

After they passed three blocks, Selene turned right, this time driving just a little bit faster than legally allowed. David nodded approvingly: "Continue for ten kilometers. Or … you could let me drive." He suggested a bit hesitantly. He definitely felt enormous respect for the lone ex Death Dealer, now suddenly turned mother and he would never try to do anything to displease her.

Selene threw him a dirty look, but after a second his suggestion suddenly seemed not so off, so she hit the brakes and after the car stopped, she turned to David: "OK, take the wheel." Without any further lost words, she opened the door and exited the car.

David was pleasantly surprised that she accepted his idea and hurried to take the wheel before the stubborn vampiress could change her mind. Since he met her, he learned that Selene was more stubborn than any other person he ever met.

Eve watched what was going on silently. She was tired. Now that they were at least for the moment safe, she felt the exhaustion. Her eyelids were getting heavy and her concentration fell rapidly. There were seconds, when she switched off completely and only her strong will prevented her from falling asleep.

Selene sat on the front seat and turned to look at her daughter. She saw how the girl fought with exhaustion and how her eyelids were getting heavier with each passed second. Suddenly a warmth, she until now knew only when she related to Michael, spread inside her and she smiled at Eve almost involuntarily: "Go to sleep, dear. You don't have to stay awake. I'll take care that nothing happens to you."

"But …" Eve tried to protest, but was immediately cut off by her mother.

"No buts, Eve! You're dead tired and need to rest!" Selene admonished her daughter with serious voice, feeling responsible for the wellbeing of this little creature, who was a product of her and Michael's love.

"OK, mommy." Eve trailed off almost instantly. Now she stopped fighting the tiredness and it took her only few seconds to fall asleep.

Selene looked at now sleeping form of her child with a small smile on her lips. If only for a second, she forgot that they were all alone, without Michael.

"We'll be there in about ten minutes." David's voice disturbed her and she turned to look at him. The smile, she had on her face while looking at Eve, vanished as if it had never been there at all.

"She needs to rest. She's been through a lot lately."

"Yeah, like you've had it easy." David snorted quietly. _How could someone ever understand her? She's ice cold and yet she definitely loves her daughter, putting her in front of everything else._ He was getting a little more insight in this enigma, named Selene, with each minute they spent together.

"I don't matter. She does. She's the future." At her words, Selene remembered similar words, spoken by Alexander Corvinus directed at her. Words, she were the future. _If only Michael were here! I need him so!_ Her thoughts instantly began to revolve around the only man she ever loved, the only man she ever would love and she fell silent, while her face drifted off into the mask of a cold Death Dealer.

David looked at her from the corner of his eye and when he saw her emotionless expression, he decided not to tell any more. So he turned his attention back to driving.

The next minutes were spent in silence, Selene falling deep into the thoughts what she could do to find Michael, David grumbling over what just happened, only Eve was in her own dream world, sleeping surprisingly peaceful on the back seat.

"We're here." David turned on a driveway to a house, standing a bit away from the main road, hidden by high trees and a wall that made it impossible to see anything inside. Selene felt reminded of the mansion she used to live in for so long and some unpleasant memories resurfaced for a second before she forcefully pushed them aside.

"Who owns this place?" She scanned the surroundings for any possible threats.

"It had been abandoned years ago and it's been a long time since anyone entered the house. Before, it belonged to a family of vampires, who had been killed during the purge." David answered with flat voice, seemingly reluctantly.

"Did you know the family?" Selene was still suspicious, she wanted to know more.

David paused before answering. He inhaled deeply and said with a dark voice: "Yeah, I knew them. I knew them all too well."

Instinctively Selene felt that he wouldn't say anything more and somehow knew that the death of this family hit him hard. "Did they have a daughter? About your age?" She didn't know where this came from, it simply came over her that he might have loved someone and lost them during the purge. If she could love, why couldn't another vampire too?

David nodded and Selene noticed his faraway look, explaining everything what she wanted to know. She just looked into his eyes and nodded, without saying anything at all. She knew how he felt. She understood. She felt almost the same.

XXXXXXXXXX

Michael shivered and pulled the coat tighter around his body. He hid in the half-shadow and observed the people, going about their business on the street. He still felt the consequences of the time spent in the stasis and from time to time shivered involuntarily. After he realized that he lost 12 years by noticing the date on a newspaper in the garbage bin, he was still trying to cope with the fact that everything changed in a heartbeat. _Where is Selene? Is she alive? What happened to her?_ He knew that he would have to do something, to find out what happened in the years he lost. But right at this moment, he could only think of his vampire lover.

He shivered a bit again, pushed himself off of the wall on which he was leaning heavily. He knew that he needed to feed, otherwise he would soon be incapable of even running around. He took the few steps towards the street and mixed himself among the people. It was late and there were not too many people still walking around, and he was glad of that fact.

How did he get out of the stasis? His memories were blurred and he only knew to have woken up in a chamber, upside down and that he broke the glass to fall on the floor, shivering violently. After he regained some of his strength, he saw two bodies on the floor and thought that there must have been a battle. But who was fighting whom? He had no idea, so he searched for some suitable clothing and since he found none, he had to strip one of the dead guys and take his garments.

"Sorry!" A man bumped into his shoulder and murmured not sincerely meant apology. Michael stopped dead in tracks and sniffed the air. Lycan! He turned around and looked after the man, who hurried away from him. He hesitated for a second, but decided not to follow him. He was still too weak to fight him and if the lycan didn't smell him, even better! He turned around again and walked in the opposite direction of the man, who was obviously a lycan.

After few hundred meters, he saw that he was passing a hospital and suddenly got the idea. In hospital, there sure must have sufficient quantities of blood. Blood, which he so desperately needed. So he stopped and observed the hospital entrance for a while, before deciding and stepping towards the entrance.

As soon as he entered the hall, he scanned it and thanked his experience with hospital from his previous life. He quickly memorized different directions and decided to head for the trauma. There he should be able to find at least few bags of blood. He tried to act as unsuspicious as possible, avoiding all the personnel, hurrying along the corridors.

He managed to reach the trauma without being stopped or questioned. _Their security really sucks!_ He waited for few minutes, leaning against the wall and acting like he would be just another patient, waiting for the medical examination, while in the fact he was trying to find out where they kept the supplies. After what seemed to him like hours, although in fact it hadn't been more than five minutes, he finally saw a nurse, running out of one of the rooms, carrying few bags of blood.

After the nurse vanished into one of the OP rooms, he carefully checked if anyone was looking at him and went over to the door, the nurse just closed. He tried to open them, just to find that they were locked. His fingernails extended into claws and in a second, he opened the door and vanished inside. It took him just about five seconds to find the fridge with the blood supply. Breaking the glass with a piece of cloth, he snapped four bags and hid them under the coat. He desperately needed blood, but he also knew that it was much too dangerous here, so he decided to leave the hospital before being discovered and hide somewhere else.

Two minutes were all he needed to exit the main entrance to the hospital and less than additional one minute to vanish in the darkness. He continued down the street and soon found a suitable hideout, where he could feed.

After drinking two bags of blood, he felt much better and stronger. Sure, he still felt cold, but his strength returned almost in full and now he was able to start thinking about his next actions. He knew that here was one task that preceded all the others: he had to find Selene. His heart felt empty without her, not knowing what happened since they last saw each other, running down the pier, twelve years ago as he now knew.

He would not give up on her; he would not rest until he was reunited with the woman, the vampiress, who stole his heart with just one glance in a subway station, what seemed so long ago. "I'll always find you, Selene! I promise!" His murmured words were not meant to be heard by anyone, he only tried to comfort his aching soul.

XXXXXXXXXX

"Wake up Eve. We're here." Selene talked softly to her daughter, trying to wake her without frightening her. Just a minute ago, David parked the car in front of the entrance to the big house. Selene looked around and saw that the mansion really must have been abandoned a long time ago and she suddenly thought of how it must look inside. The debris was scattered everywhere even blocking the entrance door, so David was already trying to clean it up so that they could at least enter the building.

Eve opened her eyes abruptly and jerked upwards with a slightly shocked expression on her face.

"It's OK!" Selene grabbed her daughter by the upper arms, trying to calm her down and looked worriedly into her eyes, which were already turning into black eyes of a hybrid.

Selene's calm and comforting voice as well as her hands on the girl's arms obviously reassured Eve that she was in no danger and her eyes turned back into normal. "I'm sorry!" She gasped in slight shock. "Did I hurt you?"

Selene gave her the smallest of smiles and shook her head: "You could never hurt me, Eve."

Eve didn't look all to convinced, but decided to drop the subject and turned towards the building where David just managed to clear the path and open the entrance door: "Where are we?"

"A safe house." Selene was still very crisp and economical with words. She was never the one to lose too many words where there was no need to. As long as she could remember, and that was quite a long time considering her age of more than 630 years, she only got conditionally talkative with Michael. _I've got to stop thinking of Michael if I want to get anything done. I have to find a way to get him back and then I can think of him!_ She tried to persuade herself, knowing that it was just wishful thinking. She could never stop thinking of the father of her child, her lover.

"Doesn't look much like a safe house. To me it's more like a rundown mansion, haunted by unfriendly ghosts." Eve eyed the house suspiciously. "Are you sure it won't collapse on us?"

Eve's comment had unexpectedly positive effect on Selene's mood and she smiled a little, although her smile still didn't reach her eyes: "I don't know. Let's get in and find out."

"Do we really have to?" Eve noticed the impact of her previous words on her mother and tried to continue in the same manner. It was so good to see the vampiress in better mood. She already opened her mouth to say something more, but decided that she could only spoil what she achieved, so she kept silent.

"Yes. We have to!" Selene didn't quite know how to react to Eve's words. She sensed that the girl just tried to cheer her up, but the last remark missed its point.

"Shall we go in now? It's not exactly tidy, but I guess that it'll do for few days." David returned from his short exploration trip into the mansion and was now standing few meters away from the car on the porch at the entrance door, looking at mother and daughter. Even he could sense the slight tension, but also the bond between them. They might have not known each other for a long time, but they have already built a strong connection, which would only grow further. He sighed quietly and his eyes settled on Selene's pale face. She looked exhausted and haunted, sad beyond belief and yet she was the most beautiful woman he ever saw.

Selene didn't answer, she just stretched her arm towards Eve as if silently requesting her to take it again and after Eve took hold of Selene's hand, she smiled slightly. For the former Death Dealer it was something she never believed could be … she was holding her daughter's hand and she liked it. She liked it almost as much as when Michael held her hand. _Again! I really have to get my mind off him!_

They approached David, who was waiting for them at the top of the stairs. His eyes were still resting on Selene's face and now she finally noticed it and snapped more aggressively than she wanted: "What?"

Her harsh tone brought David out of his reveries and he smiled apologetically: "Nothing. You look like you would need a good rest. No offence, but you really look like shit."

Selene snorted: "Then you have no idea what it is to actually look like shit." She didn't understand why she was acting so dismissive towards David, who only wanted to help her. Perhaps it was the way he just looked at her that reminded her too much of how Kraven used to look at her. She hated when men looked at her like that. Well, she actually liked it when one certain hybrid looked at her with desire. In a second she realized that she should perhaps be a little nicer to him: "Sorry, I'm just not in a good mood right now." She added apologetically and it surprised her that she actually meant it.

"Mom!" Eve tugged slightly at her hand, sensing the tension building up. Her eyes turned to look at her mother.

Selene was never good with feelings until she let herself go with Michael and now she was slowly beginning to unveil this human trait. She somehow knew that Eve didn't want to ask her anything; she knew that she wanted to reassure her newfound mother that she would be there for her. So she responded only by slightly squeezing Eve's hand and giving her a thankful look.

David wasn't offended by Selene's attitude. He thought that it must really be hard for her. Losing a man she loved, losing twelve years of her life, finding out that she had a daughter of whom she knew nothing … So he just nodded: "Let me take you to a room."

"How do you know where the rooms are?" Eve was curious and looked around interested after they entered the house.

Selene's and David's eyes met for a second and in this split moment Selene could see hurt flashing across the young vampire's face. She suspected it before, but now she was sure that David was closely connected to the family which used to live here. Or more precisely, with some girl, who used to stay in this mansion.

"Oh, I've been here a few times before the owners abandoned the house." David forced a smile and tried to remain as vague as possible, without revealing anything if possible.

Eve looked at him and understood that he didn't want to talk about it. Not yet. So she just nodded sympathetically.

David turned and walked towards the staircase, ignoring the dirt and the dust, covering the entrance hall and every piece of furniture in it.

They ascended the stair silently, Selene on highest alert, following David who appointed himself as their guide to the mansion. They took an aisle on the first floor and stopped in front of one door. There was nothing specific about it, just one of the doors in the wall. He opened them and stepped inside with Selene and Eve in close pursuit.

They entered a large room, and the first thing that caught Selene's eye was a big king size bed, with some antique looking cabinets and other smaller pieces of furniture along the walls, all covered with sheets. The room slightly reminded Selene of her room in Ördőghaz. She looked around and registered that there was almost no dust in this room, the bed even looked freshly dressed. It looked just like someone would be regularly visiting it and she turned to David with questioning eyes. "I guess that you want us to stay here?"

"Sure. It's the nicest room in the house."

"What about you?"

"There's a similar room just next door. I'll stay there."

Selene nodded and strolled towards the bed, pulling Eve behind her.

"So, I'll leave you guys to yourself. See you in few of hours. You both need a rest. I'll take care that we're not disturbed." David was already turning as Selene's voice stopped him.

"I can't ask that from you, David. I'll take the first watch."

David turned back abruptly: "Absolutely not, Selene! You have to rest and besides … you have to take care of your daughter. You're not alone anymore."

Selene wanted to object, but suddenly felt so tired that she just nodded and mouthed quietly: "OK, but tomorrow I'll take the watch."

David grinned, satisfied that he won so easily: "We'll talk about it when you are rested. See you later." He turned and left the room, stopping at the door just for a brief: "Sleep well."

Eve and Selene didn't answer. Eve slowly stepped over to the bed and pulled Selene behind her. After they both sat down on the bed, Selene felt how her eyelids suddenly became unbearable heavy. She hadn't had a proper rest since she woke up in the cryo tank and it was all catching up with her now. _Michael!_ Suddenly a tear escaped her eye and she let out a soft sob. She never before sobbed, but now she lost control of her feelings. Her whole world had been shattered, lying under her feet in shards and the little girl, who clutched at her hand, wasn't able to make the pain go away. At least not yet, although it felt good to have someone.

Eve watched fascinated how this strong woman, who fought with unbelievable passion to get her out of the lycan hands, slowly melted and almost broke down. _My heart is not cold … it's broken._ A flash of their conversation suddenly reminded her how her mother must feel and she almost subconsciously threw herself into Selene's arms, hugging her tightly. "We'll find my father mommy. Everything's is going to be all right, you'll see." She felt how Selene's arms slowly, almost hesitantly reached around her, hugged her tenderly but gradually her grip tightened.

Selene was thankful to her daughter, even though she knew how difficult it might be to find Michael. She squeezed Eve tightly and finally allowed her tears to flow freely. Soft sobbing of a vampiress with a broken heart was the only sound that could be heard in the room while Eve gently rocked her mother to comfort her.

On the other side of the door, David, who was still standing there, heard Selene's grief and realized how broken she must be. Before, he wanted her to teach them how to fight. But now, after witnessing her emotional almost break-down, he swore to himself to help her find her mate. He believed that once she was reunited with him, they would both help them to retake their rightful position in the world.

After what seemed hours, but it was in fact only few minutes, Selene got her tears under control and stopped sobbing. She slowly loosened her embrace on Eve and leaned back to look at the miracle of her love in the eyes. Her slightly red and puffy eyes met similar eyes of her daughter. Despite all the hurt she still felt, she couldn't help but smile shakily at her: "Look at us. Two strongest creatures in this world apart from your father and we cry like little babies."

Eve returned the teary smile and answered: "I don't care, mommy. I'm happy that I finally found you and sad that we still haven't found my dad. But he's out there and we'll find him. No matter what it will take, we'll find him. I want to get to know him too."

Selene gently stroke Eve's hair and looked at her: "Thank you Eve. Thank you being here."

Eve wiped her eyes and motioned towards the pillow with her head: "We should go to sleep now, right?"

Selene nodded, bent over to take her boots off and after she put them beside the bed, she clambered to Eve, who was already lying comfortably on her side, facing Selene. Selene turned towards her and almost subconsciously reached for her hand.

Eve grabbed her mother's hand and clutched it to her chest. "Love you." She murmured sleepily before drifting off to sleep.

Her words caused Selene to open her eyes abruptly and looked at the little girl in wonder, before a ghost of a smile tugged at the corners of her lips. For few seconds she looked at her already sleeping daughter and after her eyes closed too, she whispered:"Love you too."

* * *

_A/N_

_This is my first attempt of an Underworld story. I tried to keep the characters as much in canon as possible, considering all movies of the franchise, perhaps I just made Selene a bit too human. However, in the Underworld: Awakening, she showed very clearly that she is capable of loving someone else besides Michael and she just might react like I described her. How far I managed is up to the readers to judge._

_I have no idea if this is going to be a one shot or a multi chapter story. I guess that it's up to you, the readers. If you like the start and want to read more, let me know and I'll do my best not to disappoint you._


	2. Chapter 2

_OK, so I decided to write few more chapters of this story. I have no idea how many, and how often I'll be able to update. But I'll finish it eventually._

_Thanks to everyone who read the first chapter and special thanks to those who even wrote a review. Without you, I'd probably leave the story as it was – stand alone, one shot._

_This chapter is actually very short for my standards. I'll try to write longer ones in the future. There are probably quite a few mistakes in this one, for I've just finished it and had no time to reread and correct it._

* * *

**Chapter Two**

"Good morning, mommy." Eve's soft voice penetrated Selene's still little foggy mind and she slowly opened her eyes to gaze into the eyes of her daughter, who's head was laid on the pillow, just few inches away. After a second she took in where she was and memories of yesterday came flooding back. Finding Michael, fighting the lycans, finding Eve, loosing Michael again …

Eve saw a myriad of emotions briefly showing in her mother's eyes, she saw the brief flash of fear in them before they turned into their stoic expression once again. And still, there was more in them. She could swear that she saw love in them. "Are we going to start searching for my dad today?"

Selene looked into the eyes of her daughter. So troubled and yet so innocent, looking at her with expectation and something Selene until now only saw in the eyes of one person … Michael. Was it love? She could swear it was. But how could Eve feel so strong about her mother after just having met her, after being with her for such a short time? Then she realized … it was the same with her. Until she met Michael, she had been sure that she was incapable of love, but then she realized how wrong she had been. And the same repeated itself with Eve. She loved this little girl and if she could love her than it was quite possible that she could also love her mother back.

With a small smile she nodded: "Yes, we're going to start looking for him." She got up into seating position, suddenly feeling dirty and in a desperate need of a shower. Then she looked down at herself and noticed that she was still in the same clothes as she had been during the battle, clothes smeared with blood, dirt, battered from the fighting. She raised her hands and noticed that there were still crusted remains of blood on them. "I think I need a shower. I'm just not sure if there's anything like that in this house."

Eve, who meanwhile also sat up on the bed, jumped off of it and looked around. She spotted a door, not the one they came through in yesterday and stepped towards it. She opened it and gasped in surprise: "Mommy! You have to see this!"

Selene got up, feeling much better than yesterday, but still tired. _Maybe the effects of being frozen for twelve years linger a little longer? _But she forced herself to act like she'd be full of energy and followed her daughter. She took a look through the now open door and saw that there was indeed a bathroom, but it was twice as big as the bathroom she had in her old mansion in Ordoghaz.

However, the sheer spaciousness of the room didn't impress her at least. Her eyes scanned it quickly and noticed that there was no shower, but a big bathtub. She quickly stepped to it and tried to open one of the taps. It resisted for a second, but then it opened with a screeching sound. Immediately thereafter, a gurgling sound told her that something was happening and in a second, the water began to flow through it into the tub. At first a little brownish, like it would have been years since it had last been opened, but after just few second, it became clear and, surprisingly enough, warm.

She straightened up and looked at Eve, who was still standing at the door and taking in the bathroom with big eyes. She probably never saw anything like it before. How could she? She'd been kept in captivity all her life. Selene felt sorry for her daughter, for everything that had been taken from her. But it would change from now on. She promised to herself she would always look after Eve. Not just because she was her daughter, but also because she was Michael's daughter. She was a part of the man, Selene loved with all of her now warm heart. And if she would fail to find him … She trailed off in her thoughts. _No, I will find him! There's no other option but to find him and live together as a family. _She shook her head to clear her thoughts: "Would you like to bath as first, Eve?"

Eve turned her eyes to Selene and shook her head: "No, you should be the first."

Selene was perplexed and tilted her head slightly while looking into Eve's eyes: "Why would you want me to be the first?"

Eve smiled at her mother: "Because you look dirtier than I do."

"I don't know if I should be flattered that you want me to be the first or insulted that you think I'm dirtier than you." Selene commented with flat voice, but there was a spark in her eyes, showing Eve that she didn't mean it like it sounded.

"I guess it's up to you to decide, mom." Eve grinned, strolled out of the bathroom and closed the door behind her.

Selene remained gazing at the closed door for a second, sighed and turned to the bathtub. She closed the drain and the water began to fill it. Without thinking, Selene peeled off her clothes and after few minutes, she stepped into the bathtub. As soon as she submerged her body into the warm water, she sighed contentedly and closed her eyes. It was nice to feel the warm water on her skin after so long time.

Eve was exploring the room in which they spent the night, asking herself where David was. She discovered the balcony, but as she stepped on it to see if she could see anything, there were tall trees all around, completely blocking the view from it.

"Not much of a view, right?" David's voice came from her right side and as she turned to face it, she saw him, standing on the balcony as well. She quickly noticed the open door, few meters away from the one she just came through.

"No. not much." She answered crisply before continuing: "I was already wondering where you could have been."

David shrugged: "Not far away. Next to you two."

A tense silence, falling upon them caused Eve to feel slightly uncomfortable and she looked into David's face, although he wasn't looking at her. He gazed into the trees with glassy eyes, obviously being lost in his own thoughts and world. She could see worries written on that face, he seemed years older than yesterday. "Is something wrong, David? You look so worried."

David remained silent for few moments and turned to face the girl then, with serious expression on his face: "Actually, everything's wrong. Your father is missing, every single lycan in this city will be eager to butcher us, we can't expect any help from my kind …" He paused for a brief moment and continued: "Would you like me to continue?" He smiled humorlessly. "Oh, and not to forget that your mother is an emotional wreck."

"Why would I be emotional wreck?" Selene's cold voice suddenly sounded from the door.

Eve and David turned in surprise, just to see Selene, standing in the doorframe, enveloped in a giant towel, her hair still wet, staring at David with a strange expression on her face. Half scowl, half pain, but her eyes revealed that she wasn't exactly thrilled by his remark.

But David didn't flinch. "I heard you yesterday, Selene. And yes, I understand you."

Selene was already opening her mouth to answer but was cut off by his serious voice: "I understand you, because I have been in similar situation before. I've also lost the love of my life. That's why I'll help you find Michael before we do anything else. I owe it to you." _And to Vicky too! _He added in his mind, feeling again how a dark shadow threatened to crush his heart.

Selene noticed his sudden change of mood and understood. She nodded: "I understand and I'm thankful." She paused, debating whether she should ask him or not, deciding that it would be perhaps good to know him better: "What was her name?"

Eve was just staring at her mother and David, not really understanding what was going on, but sensing that it was important, so she kept silent, despite the myriad of questions that were on her tongue. There would be enough time later to ask them.

"Victoria." David answered after a short hesitation, hanging his head and looking at the floor.

"She died during the purge?" It was more a statement than a question, but a certain amount of compassion could be heard in Selene's voice and even her eyes looked at David softer than they did just few seconds ago.

David nodded: "Yeah, one of the first victims of this madness." Then he looked into Selene's eyes again and there was fire in his eyes: "I never even got to say goodbye to her."

Selene nodded understandingly: "I'm sorry."

David wiped his eyes with the back of his hand and sighed: "It's been a long time ago. There's no use to dwell on it. I should let go and move on."

"Should?"

"Yes, should. I haven't been able to do so. At least not yet. Maybe that's why I want to help you. I don't want you to share the pain I feel all time since Vicky left my life."

Selene felt how something like sympathy stirred in her upon hearing what happened to David and she stepped over to him, putting a hand on his shoulder and squeezing it sympathetically: "Thank you again, David. I wish I could help you."

David forced a smile and shook his head: "I don't think that you could. But thank you anyway." Then his eyes took in Selene's appearance and he continued with slightly amused voice: "Are you planning on going out dressed like this? I think that you would draw too much attention, really."

Selene gave him a barely tolerable look. "I do not intend to go out dressed like this." She repeated his statement almost word by word. "But I had to wash my clothes and they're still quite wet."

Eve now joined them and looked into Selene's eyes: "I guess it's my turn now to bath, right?"

Selene nodded: "You should also wash your clothes."

"That won't be necessary." David interjected: "There are enough clothes to suit her in this house. Just check the wardrobes in your room." Then he looked at Selene, grinning slightly while his eyes scanned her from head to toes: "I think that you should wear some other clothes too. You might be too conspicuous in your leather."

Selene wasn't exactly thrilled: "I don't like any other clothes."

"Well, maybe you should start liking them, mum. Times have changed while you were asleep." Eve called over her shoulder from the door on her way to the room.

Selene made a distasteful face, but didn't comment any further. She understood that people were now dressing differently than 12 years ago. Besides, now they were aware of vampires and lycans and were even more alert to everyone, looking and dressing strangely. Maybe she would really have to change her clothing style? The problem was, that she really felt good in her skin tight leather jump suit and she had a hard time imagining anything else on her.

David looked at her, sensing her inner battle: "Eve's right, you know Selene. We don't want to lose you just because of your love for specific clothing style."

Selene nodded unconvinced: "I understand. But even though I accept your reasoning that doesn't mean I have to like it." Then she turned away and went to the room. She had to find something suitable to wear that would not make her sticking out like a sore thumb and at the same time wouldn't be too different from her preferences.

XXXXXXXXXX

Michael looked around the place in which he spent the night. After getting some blood yesterday, he felt better and found an abandoned warehouse on the outskirts of the city, where he hid and slept over the night. Actually, he didn't sleep exactly well. He either woke up at every sound or had nightmares. And now, looking around with still tired eyes, he didn't know what was worse: being woken every few minutes or having nightmares about losing Selene. The rats, scurrying around made him wake up, but he knew that they presented no danger. But the nightmares were something completely different; in the few months, he spent together with Selene, he got so used to her being around, he fell so deeply in love with the headstrong vampiress that it was almost unimaginable for him that he would be forced to live without her.

After few yawns and thorough rubbing of his eyes, he finally managed to wake up completely and the first thing that came on his mind was what the hell happened. Again. He remembered being shot by something almost like a rocket, falling over the pier into the water, Selene running towards him, screaming his name and the next thing he remembered was being in the stasis chamber.

"Damn it! What happened? Why was I frozen? Why did I wake up?" He murmured to himself barely audible. Suddenly he remembered hammering against the glass of the stasis chamber, noticing a small hole. _Someone must have made it. Probably with a gun. But who? Could it have been Selene?_ A picture of the dead guards or mercenaries, one of whom he stripped for his clothes, reappeared and he could now saw clearly that they have been killed very efficiently and that whoever killed them, was very good at their job. Could it have been Selene? But … where was she now? Why didn't she wait for him to wake up, if she really was the one to help him? Or … was she there, but he missed her?

His eyes suddenly opened wide at the thought that he might have ran away from Selene not even knowing it. Maybe she was somewhere in the building, searching for him, maybe getting help, or fighting someone?

"Damn!" He cursed aloud, thinking of possibility that he ran away from his vampiress without knowing it. "I should have thought of it sooner!" But still, he knew that the only sound decision was to run as long as he was able to. He couldn't have known if Selene was there at the time.

"Maybe I should go back?" But he knew immediately it would be a very risky thing to do, actually it was almost suicidal. After what happened there it was more than clear that the building would be heavily guarded and he didn't doubt that his picture had been already distributed. He'd have problems even reaching the building and then, penetrating it, well, it would be more like a Russian roulette than search for his lover.

His brain still worked a little sluggish and he thought that it must have been the consequence of being frozen for so long. He would need a little time to really get back into shape he was before. And if he wanted to find Selene, he had to be in his top form.

He stood up and began pacing around, at the same time exploring the large room. The storage had been obviously abandoned for quite a long time and a thick layer of dust covered everything. There were some broken crates, some other stuff, left behind, but nothing useful. However, he was satisfied with that. It meant that no one was coming here and he would be relatively safe for at least a while.

He sat on a crate that miraculously wasn't broken and sighed, while leaning his face into the palms. He would have to make a plan how to search for Selene, but at the moment his brain was too occupied with getting back on track and he had absolutely no idea what he could do to fulfill his mission.

He grinned angrily: "Jesus, I'm a man on a mission! Mission to find out what happened to my woman and to find her. Maybe it's the best mission I ever had. At least the objective, the prize is the highest."

TBC


	3. Chapter 3

_Well, I decided to write a few more chapters, if not for something else, then to give this story a proper ending and to finish what I started. But I'd really appreciate a review or two … just to know what you liked and what not._

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**Chapter Three**

Selene growled irritated and slammed her two pistols on the table. Just a second ago she stormed through the door of their safe house like a fury, obviously in a very foul mood and David, who had been sitting behind the desk, studying an old book, thought it best not to ask anything and allow her time to calm down. By now he knew the vampiress good enough to keep his mouth shut when she was in such a mood.

Ever since they escaped from the Antigen building three months ago, Selene had spent days and sometimes also nights in the search for Michael. Unfortunately, until now she had no luck. Even Eve, who always accompanied her, couldn't sense her father more than few times. And every time she sensed him, they hurried to the location that she saw, just to find that there was no one anymore. It definitely didn't improve Selene's mood.

Only seconds after Selene, Eve entered the room too, obviously trying to avoid her mother as much as possible, her face revealing that she was in no better mood than Selene. They've been out in the streets, searching for her father for hours, but, as always up till now, without success.

David sighed and raised an eyebrow at Eve, who strolled past him without saying a single word. Eve was different story than Selene and he dared to talk to her, even when she was upset or angry. She noticed it and shook her head in resignation.

"So, nothing again." David uttered quietly, taking care that Selene wouldn't hear him. True, she was already in the adjacent room, she shared with Eve, but he knew very well that her hearing was even better than his and she would undoubtedly be pissed at him, should he say something, she could deem inappropriate, especially being in such a mood.

Eve stopped at his side, shook her head and looked into the book he was studying. "What are you reading?"

"Oh, an old book about the origins of vampires and lycans."

"And what do you expect to learn from it? It's an old story and my mother knows it very well." Eve wondered with still troubled expression on her face. She found it odd that David was reading such a book, when her mother could tell him a lot more than he could find in the book.

"She might have been acquainted with the truth, but I haven't been. The so called truth that I have been led to believe in, proved to be a little more than fabrication and lies." He sighed and closed the book, directing his stare at Eve. For few seconds they remained silent and it was again David, who spoke as first: "Another failure then?"

Eve just nodded wordlessly, turned to look through the window and let out a ragged, worried breath: "I'm afraid for my mother. She's slowly getting impatient. Every time we come back empty handed she's a little more troubled and colder."

David nodded, even though Eve was not facing him: "I understand. But you have to know that it's really hard for her. Losing twelve years of her life, losing the man she loves, suddenly being a mother…"

"As if it would be any easier for me! I've been kept in captivity for all my life, told that my mother abandoned me, being referred to as an abomination!" Eve's voice sounded angry and as she turned to look at David, her eyes only confirmed it. "I don't get it! She's more than six hundred years old and after only few months she gets impatient? She's immortal, damn! And so is my father!" it all came out harsher than she intended to, so she looked at David apologetically: "Sorry for the tone. It's not your fault."

"I know it Eve. And I understand your frustration. But I believe that Michael means so much to your mother that she can't even imagine a life without him. From what I've seen and heard, she never loved anyone before and Michael was not only her lover, he was also her support, the center of her life ever since she met him. You should try to understand her." David tried to reassure the young hybrid. "She really loves you, you know."

David's last words deflated Eve's anger completely. Her shoulders slumped and she hung her head. It took her few moments to recompose and then she lifted her sad gaze towards David: "I know all that. It's just … I also want to find my father. And she's sometimes so … difficult to love. No matter what, she's my mother and she came for me when I thought I was lost. Yes, I know that she loves me, but she has sometimes very strange ways of showing it." She concluded with a weary sigh.

David saw how her eyes began to glitter like wet gemstones and hurried: "You should try to be her rock in the storm, Eve. You're young, but you're wise and experienced far beyond your age. Be her haven and she will be yours."

Eve's eyes suddenly looked at him hopingly and she barely managed through her constricted throat: "Do you think so?"

"Definitely!" David nodded vigorously and stepped aside to let Eve look at the door, through which Selene vanished just moments ago. "Go to her!" He grabbed Selene's guns from the table and handed them to Eve: "And take these with you!"

Eve accepted the guns and nodded, before heading towards the door.

XXXXXXXXXX

_Where are you Michael? God damned! Where are you hiding? Don't you feel me looking for you? Please!_

Selene stood at the window, gazing through it into the night, without really seeing anything. Her disappointment with her own failures to find Michael caused her frustration to grow into immeasurable heights. She was slowly losing her patience and each day she felt a little worse. She knew that Eve was worried for her, but she couldn't reach out to her daughter to comfort her or to seek comfort from her. The need to find Michael was growing into some kind of obsession, an addiction. She knew that she had to find him soon; otherwise she could slowly lose her sanity.

_How the hell did he manage to make me so dependent on him in just few months that we had together? I've never cared for emotions and love was definitely not on my wish list. But ever since I met him, he turned my world upside down. I never even knew what I've been missing before he stepped into my heart._

She was so lost in her thoughts that she barely noticed the door opening and Eve joining her in their room.

"Mom?" Eve's voice sounded tiny and vulnerable, insecure if she should address her at all. And that was the tone that shook Selene out of her self-pity and reveries. Her daughter was as distracted and frustrated as she and she ignored it until now. But she wouldn't do it anymore! Eve was al she had left at the time and she would make sure that she wouldn't lose her too. Not just physically … no, she was in danger to lose her spiritually and emotionally.

Selene turned to Eve and saw her petite frame standing at the door, two too big guns in her hands, looking at her mother with big, questioning eyes. Eyes that so painfully reminded Selene of Michael. Upon seeing the distraught expression of her daughter, Selene's face softened and she stepped to her. "I'm here Eve."

Eve pondered her mother for a second, but saw that she gave her a sad half smile and smiled back at her too. "I don't like it when you're so sad, mom."

Selene sighed and remembered the first time she told Eve why she looked so cold. "I'm sorry Eve. I just … I miss Michael so much."

Eve discarded the guns on a nearby chair and quickly stepped to Selene. As she reached her, she wrapped her arms around her mother and squeezed her. It took Selene just a second to respond and hug her daughter back, hesitating for just a second before squeezing her tight.

"I know, mom. But I'm here too. And I'm not leaving you."

"Thank you, Eve. If it weren't for you I would have probably already gone crazy." Selene slowly caressed the back of Eve's head and tried to reassure her little girl that she loved her, no matter what.

"We'll find him, mom! We will! No matter how long it takes us, we'll be together. As a family."

"Family …" Selene's voice trailed off as memories of her family, slain by Victor resurfaced again. After she met Michael, after she fell in love with him, she believed that she maybe could find happiness that's been missing from her life for more than six centuries again. But it had been taken away from her … again, like Viktor took her first family from her; however, now she had someone else … she had a little girl, a beautiful result of her deep love for Michael. If only they could find him! Then she could have a family again. She swallowed back the tears and straightened: "I'm going out tonight again. I feel that Michael is very near. But you will stay here. You need to rest. I've requested too much from you in the last weeks."

"But I want to go too!" Eve protested after she let her mother out of the embrace.

"I know you do. But not tonight Eve. Please, get some rest." Selene was determined to stop Eve from going with her. She wanted to check some places that were dangerous and she absolutely didn't want to expose Eve to such dangers. _I know that she's probably more powerful than me, but I still feel the urge to protect her. Maybe I'm really developing motherly feelings?_

Eve sensed from Selene's voice that she wouldn't be able to talk her mother around into letting her to accompany her, so she nodded reluctantly: "OK. But I'm not happy!" She pouted and looked Selene straight into her eyes. _Maybe I should insist a little bit more?_

Selene chuckled barely audible at the sight of her daughter's pout and exclaimed with amused voice:" I know you're not. But it's the way it's going to be tonight."

XXXXXXXXXX

A dark shadow crept silently along the wall, making no sound at all. You could see it only if you'd be looking directly at it and be very cautious besides. It carefully avoided every obstacle, not to make a single noise. This part of the city wasn't exactly known for safety or tidiness. Rather the opposite; dubious souls gathered here to go after their dark intentions, trying to evade any possible prying eye or ear. It had been a well known secret, almost an urban legend that if someone wandered in this part without clear knowledge what they were up to, they could easily vanish traceless.

Selene tried to become a part of the darkness and she managed it quite well. Even the rare lost souls, roaming around in different stages of intoxication, maybe some in desperate attempt to remain unseen, others too drunk to know what they were actually doing, even such individuals failed to see a slender woman, clad from neck to toe in a body tight leather, covered by a long coat.

After having been convinced that her usual attire would cause suspicion, Selene tried to get used to ordinary clothing and even managed to accept it somehow. But she still felt the best in her leather jumpsuit. And now was such a time … going out in the night was something she wouldn't want to do, clothed in jeans and some top.

She had been surveying the area for almost four hours now and was slowly getting tired. Soon she would have to return to the safe house, where Eve waited for her. It had been quite a difficult job to convince her daughter to stay there and accept David as her guardian, but Selene adamantly refused to take Eve with her on this tour.

Even though she knew that she would have to stop her search for the night soon, she felt inexplicable urge to go on. She got a feeling that Michael must be very near. She could almost feel his presence and it fueled her determination to keep on searching. _At least another hour more, perhaps two? I have a feeling that he's very near._

She suddenly stopped and carefully sniffed the air. A faint smell penetrated her nose and she froze immediately. It was unmistakably the smell of a lycan. Perhaps more lycans, not just one. She flattened against the wall and tried to see through the almost complete darkness. _Good that I'm not the only one with sight problems! The beasts have even bigger ones._

Almost involuntarily she held her breath and tried to hear something, anything, that would tell her if there were some of the beasts approaching. For few seconds nothing happened, she heard nothing, although the scent became more and more distinctive.

She almost believed to have been mistaken, as a sudden low growl made her turn abruptly. Even in the almost complete darkness, she could see four shadows standing perhaps ten meters from her. Shadows, not humanoid, but bestial.

_Lycans!_ Shot through her mind and she instantly knew that they have already spotted her and were just preparing to attack. _Good that they have no idea who I am!_

In the last months she realized that ever since she had been frozen twelve years ago, the lycans gained on their conviction that vampires represented no danger for them. After she met David's father and the saw the cowardice in the coven, she understood why lycans were so self-assure. The vampires definitely didn't present any danger for them. However … she was a death dealer, a trained assassin of the beasts and she knew how to deal with them. Ever since she began her search for Michael, she had few encounters with the lycans and they all ended with lot of dead lycans.

She prepared for the attack and in an instant her two pistols were in her hands. But it seemed that the lycans were more careful this time and they dispersed immediately, making it impossible for her to finish them all quickly.

_Fuck! They must know who they're dealing with and have learned how to attack!_ Selene cursed in her thoughts, realizing that these lycans must have known whom they were standing against and knew that she was no easy prey. She had no doubts that the information of a death dealer resurrected already made its way to almost every lycan in the city. These four almost definitely heard of her. Before.

The four shadows were now moving around her quickly, growling quietly as not to reveal their positions too soon and she couldn't follow them all at the same time, so she fired at one of them. A short burst from her automatic gun, spraying the silver bullets in the direction of one shadow. She knew that it was not exactly sure she'd hit it and was prepared for another burst, but the shadow collapsed with loud shriek and a thud, as its massive body fell to the ground, witnessed that the beast was dead.

_One down, three to go_, shot through her mind as she frantically tried to pinpoint the position of other three lycans. She could see only two and just as she tried to determine the position of the third one, she felt a tremendous, cutting, blow against her right hip, knocking one of her guns out of her hand, sending her sprawling over the dirty, wet ground.

A sharp pain from the spot where the claws of the attacking beast hit her on her side and sliced through her leather and skin, radiated through her, just to be accompanied with a pain from her left elbow, as it made hard contact with the ground. _Fuck! Fuck!_

She gasped for air, trying to drive the pain away by shaking her head and concentrating on the job to be done. She knew that her chances were not so good now that she lost one of her guns and after one of the beasts cut through her flesh, causing a significant bleeding from her right hip.

Even while falling she observed the other two lycans, who were now charging towards her. As soon as she was on the ground, she rolled over to get into better shooting position, ignoring the searing pain in her hip and elbow. As soon as she was turned towards the lycan that attacked her, she fired a short burst of deadly bullets into its chest, sending the predator backwards with a loud growling. But unfortunately, the gun that was left in her hand was the one, which had already been used to kill the first lycan and it suddenly clicked empty.

_Shit!_ Selene cursed silently, hoping that she managed to kill the lycan that was responsible for her wound. She frantically tried to find the lost gun, but there were two other lycans, now only few feet away from her and closing in quickly. She tried to get up, but before she managed to gain her footing, one of the lycans was already over her and she yelped in pain, as it thrust his claws into her shoulder, with clear intent to get to her head with his gaping jaws. There was saliva dropping from the long, yellowish fangs and Selene knew that she had only one chance to get free from the talons, dig deep into her shoulder, only adding more pain. It was almost unbearable, but she clenched her teeth and pushed herself up, while already grabbing for her silver knife. She did her best to ignore the excruciating pain as the beast's talons dug even deeper into her flesh.

Fortunate for her, these two lycans were obviously not exactly the smartest, for the one who still had his claws buried deep in her shoulder was pushing her towards the wall, covering her with its massive body, thus making it impossible for the other one to get to her from the other side. It had to wait for its turn and growled aloud, frustrated that it had no chance to claw at the vampiress.

Selene managed to pull the silver knife from its holster, but before she could thrust it into lycan's chest, he pulled his claws from her shoulder and backhanded her viciously, so that she flew few meters before crashing hard against a pillar that stood there, supporting the upper floors of the deserted house, they were fighting under.

For a second she saw only stars and felt how few ribs on the left side of her chest cracked upon the impact against the concrete pillar. Her head smashed against it too and she felt how the blow tore off the flap of skin on her cheek and blood began to flow from the open wound. She felt a wave of nausea sweeping over her and she thought that the beast must have cracked her skull. At least she had a serious concussion.

Even in this moment, when she feared that the death may be nearing her, she had to think of Michael, desperate that she would probably never see him again. _I'm sorry Michael! I'm sorry for failing to find you before my death._

But Selene wasn't one of the best death dealers for naught. She would fight until her last breath and so she managed to stay on her feet, stumbling and leaning with her back against the pillar. Her now snow white eyes glared icily at the two lycans, who were obviously trying to understand that the vampiress was still standing. She left them no time and threw the knife at one of them.

A loud groan was the last sound that the lycan managed to make, before it sank to the ground with the handle of the silver knife protruding from his chest. Selene hit its heart precisely.

The other lycan looked at its dead companion confused for a second, roared and started towards Selene, who was slowly sliding down to the ground with her back scraping against the pillar. She had no weapons and her strength was almost gone. She couldn't do anything to prevent the beast from killing her. It looked like she'd be nearing the end of the line.

Pictures of two persons that meant the world to her flashed through her mind. Eve and Michael! It seemed that she would never be given a chance to have her own family. She had lost everyone she loved before and the history repeated itself right now.

Before the lycan reached her, she already slid down the pillar into sitting position on the ground, her eyes now turned back to chestnut and she saw the charging lycan like through a foggy veil. It wouldn't last much longer before she would join her slain family.

The lycan roared wild as it swung its muscular arm to finish her, but in that moment the arm was suddenly stopped in the air and the vicious roar turned into pained yelp. A hand with long talons grabbed at its arm and cracked it like it would have been made of glass and caused the beast to roar in excruciating pain.

The roar was interrupted as one hand grabbed the beast's lower jaw and the other the upper one, ripping apart the head of the lycan like a piece of paper.

Selene looked at the scene in confusion. Her consciousness was slowly slipping away and like in dreams she saw the headless body of the lycan drop to the ground and a creature standing behind the fallen beast, breathing heavily.

"Michael?" Selene managed to whisper before the darkness claimed her.

TBC


	4. Chapter 4

_First part of this chapter basically handles the same time span as the previous one, just this time from Michael's point of view and then continues from the end of the last chapter. I assume that they are still in Budapest and there are few things in this chapter, using this assumption._

_Thanks to all those who are reading this story. I must say that I'm surprised that there have been so many visits to the story, although also a little baffled why almost no one decided to write a review. Honestly, it's not about the number of reviews, but I'd really like to know what did you like and what you think had been done incorrectly._

_After initial hesitancy about writing a story for Underworld, I now feel like I'm beginning to live with it and I can only hope that you enjoy it reading as much as I enjoy writing it. When you stumble upon grammar and syntax mistake, please bear in mind that I'm not a native speaker and therefore may make mistakes that are 'unimaginable' for someone, whose first language is English. But I promise I do my best (without a beta!)._

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**Chapter Four**

Almost three months have passed since Michael managed to escape the Antigen Company. Each and every day in these long weeks had been dedicated to one and only goal … finding Selene. He had to find her and he wouldn't give up on his search, even if it would take him years. Sometimes a thought crossed his mind that Selene might be dead, but he immediately discarded it. Selene simply could not be dead! The love of his life, the beautiful vampiress, who saved his life so many times, was definitely alive, somewhere searching for him too. Every time when such depressing thoughts clouded his efforts, he only continued with increased determination to find her.

He even risked getting back to the building of the company from where he escaped. Against all sound considerations, he somehow managed to get into the building, but found it strangely empty. It looked like everyone would leave it in a hurry, leaving many scattered items behind. Nevertheless, even though he couldn't find a living (or immortal) soul in the huge building, he paid extreme attention not to get caught. He searched through all rooms, but found nothing.

After entering a similar room as the one from which he escaped, he saw a cryogenic tank, similar if not identical to his, just the inscription on it was different. While on his it wrote 'Subject 0', this one was marked with 'Subject 1'. Later he found even another tank, labeled 'Subject 2'.

He stood in front of the empty, shattered tank thoughtfully. _It looks like I wasn't the only one kept frozen. I wonder if one of them was Selene. But who was the third one?_ He had checked every room in the building and found only these three tanks. His efforts to find anything more about who could have been kept in the tanks were in vain. There was absolutely no data about it. _They probably didn't leave in such a hurry as it seemed before. They took everything that could reveal the truth about the frozen persons._

During his roaming around the city, he sensed few vampires and lycans, but after he determined that it was not Selene, he avoided them in wide arc. He wasn't afraid of the fight, but he knew that causing too much attention wasn't the best way to continue his quest. Sometimes he played with the idea to approach one of the vampires, trying to find out if they knew anything about Selene, but he never actually pulled the idea through. He was outcast from the both species, vampires as well as lycans. Vampires could have sensed his lycan side and lycans would probably go berserk after sensing the vampire blood in him. No, he was definitely on his own in this search. He could not count on any help in fulfilling his destiny to find the woman he loved.

He systematically and thoroughly searched the city, block after block, leaving nothing unexplored. Up until now he was unsuccessful. Few times he got a feeling as if Selene would be very near, but the feeling vanished even faster than it appeared.

Three or four times he had strange visions, like he would be looking through some foreign eyes and twice he briefly saw Selene, as if someone else would be looking at her. It always made his heart skip a beat and growl in anticipation, but before he could really pinpoint the location of his vision, it vanished again. And yet … there was something strange going on with him.

Today, he searched along the Danube and in one moment he came upon a landing pier, which seemed very familiar. After he carefully slipped under it, he stopped dead in his tracks, recognizing the location. It was the same place where he had pulled unconscious Selene out of the cold water, roughly bandaged her shoulder and passed out immediately thereafter. Upon the flood of memories he collapsed to the ground and hid his face in his palms. Without being consciously aware of it, he began to cry. Hot tear slowly travelled down his cheeks and through the fingers, covering his face. _Oh Selene! Where are you, my love? I saved your life once or twice, but you saved mine so often I can't even begin to think of. Please, be somewhere out there, please, let yourself be found! I won't rest until we're reunited. Without you my life has absolutely no sense._ He shuddered violently at sudden realization that he was immortal and the eternity without Selene seemed like the hardest possible punishment. He simply had to find her!

With renewed strength he continued his search until he had to return to his hideout to feed. This was another problem. He had no big problems obtaining blood, but he simply forgot to feed and after few days, his weakened body made him aware that he should feed more regularly. He wouldn't be much of a help for Selene, should he be all weakened. So he forced himself to regularly ingest a bag of blood, stolen from one of the hospitals in the city.

After finishing the last drop of blood, he stepped to the dirty window, overlooking the Danube. He was quite far away from the city center, but this was the only location that seemed safe enough. The quart he was now in wasn't exactly the most visited one and he had no problems staying hidden until now. The moon shone over the slowly flowing majestic river, reflecting in the small waves, building an almost magical atmosphere. Few smaller boats on the river glided past his position quietly, like some ghosts from the past. He saw the beauty of the scene, but failed to acknowledge it. If only Selene was here with him!

Suddenly he turned on his heel abruptly and gazed at the door. A strange feeling overcame him and in an instant he decided to go out again. Something told him that Selene was near … very near. He almost ran out of the room and followed his instincts.

XXXXXXXXXX

Two hours after he left his hideout, Michael was still roaming the streets of the mysterious city, which seemed to draw vampires and lycans from all over the world into its shady and sometimes misty narrow streets. History seemed to spring out from every building and he briefly wondered how many bloody battles of the immortals already happened in these streets. The whole city seemed like it would be keeping countless secrets of every species that ever roamed its streets, known or still hidden in the shadows of the history.

All this time, a nagging feeling that something was about to happen tonight didn't allow him any rest. He continued and found himself in one of the parts of the city, where he never had been before. He watched the rundown buildings, the garbage littering the dirty streets and realized that he must have found the part of the city, which no tourist or foreigner ever came to. Hell, probably even the citizens from other parts of the city avoided this one as far as possible.

The feeling that Selene must be very close only grew as he roamed deeper into the slums. He was thankful that there were very few people in the streets and even those obviously didn't want to be clearly seen by anyone and hid behind their collars, hats, shawls …, hurrying after their business, whatever they might have been.

The deeper he was in this questionable part of the city, the less people he met. He finally noticed that there were absolutely no people on the streets and he sighed relieved, but the sigh unexpectedly caught in his throat. Something was going on and it was very near! He could hear muffled battle sound and sniffed the air carefully. There was unmistakably a scent of lycans, aroused and transformed lycans! They must have tracked some poor soul down and tried to feast on them. _No, you won't!_ He decided instantly that he would put an end to whatever was going on and started towards the battle site, but before he made hundred meters, he stopped dead in his tracks for the second time today.

He sniffed the air again and almost choked on his own breath. _Could it be? Was it really …? Is it possible …?_

He pulled the air through his nostrils deeply and this time he was sure. He smelled Selene! His heart began to sing with joy, but in the very next instant it almost sacked into his guts. He smelled Selene's blood! She must be the one who was fighting the lycans. Not a human, but Selene! _His Selene! _And she seemed to have been injured!

Without a split second of hesitation he set off towards the battle site with all inhuman speed he could muster and in few seconds he was there. The scene which unraveled itself in front of his eyes made him gasp in shock and fear. Selene, now he could even see her, was sliding down a concrete pillar and a huge lycan was standing few meters away from her, snarling, sending drops of saliva all around him obviously preparing to charge for Selene and kill her.

There were three naked bodies lying around and he needed no second look to realize what must have happened here. Selene fought with four lycans and managed to kill three, but the fourth was obviously just about to kill her. She looked injured, slightly disoriented and Michael knew she had no chance against the still strong appearing lycan.

He didn't need more than a split second to charge for the lycan, but the beast started towards Selene too. Michael mobilized every ounce of strength and speed he could to get to the beast before it would reach his lover.

The split seconds seemed like an eternity to him and he feared he might be too late to stop the werewolf before it would reach Selene. He could see the lycan's arm lifting up to deliver the death blow to the vampiress who meant the world to Michael. He put another ounce of desperation into his body and reached for the already outstretched arm, beginning its way towards Selene.

His hand, now fully transformed into the hybrid form, grabbed the lycan's arm and the beast's roar changed into a surprised yelp as his fingers squeezed the muscular arm. Without a second thought he squeezed with all his force, pulled mightily downwards and at the same time twisted his hand, effectively breaking the arm. The lycan now roared in pain, but Michael allowed it no break and he grabbed the beast's jaws just like he did to William so long time ago. He pulled with all of his strength, even fueled by his rage that the beast tried to kill Selene and tore the upper half of lycan's head away. The huge hulk of the now dead beast fell to the ground and for the first time in ages, he saw Selene's face.

His chest heaved heavily not only from the strenuous run to here and fight with the lycan, but also because of the overwhelming happiness upon finally finding his lover again.

Selene's eyes looked at him unfocused and in an instant he knew that she was losing her consciousness. His heart instantly picked up its pace, fear that she might be deadly injured, almost paralyzed him.

"Michael?" Selene managed to whisper and then her eyes fell closed and she slumped to the ground.

As if this would wake Michael from his nightmare, he instantly jumped to her and even managed to catch her head before it hit the ground. The joy upon holding her in his arms again was overshadowed by the terrifying thought that she might have sustained too much blood loss. He saw numerous wounds on her body and some of them were bleeding profusely, although the bleeding was already stopping. Maybe he was still on time?

He carefully cradled the body of his vampire lover and leaned her head against his chest. She might have been unconscious but he knew that he had to be quick. His heart longed to kiss her, his hands wanted to caress her face, but as he hold her in his arms, he realized that it would have to wait. He had to bring her to his hideout and nurse her back to health.

Upon sensing that she was just unconscious, he felt like a huge boulder would fall from his heart. Changing back into his human form would be absolutely the wisest decision, but he knew that he wouldn't be able to carry her so far if he changed back. Without really considering it, he decided to remain in his hybrid form and to run as quickly as he could to his safe house.

He mobilized everything he had to reach the hideout as soon as possible. He disregarded the fatigue that slowly began to slow him down while he dashed like a whirlwind through the streets. Luckily, there were no people until now. But he was also running so fast that no one could distinctly see him, should he meet someone.

He crashed into his den and gently laid still unconscious Selene on the mattress, he used to sleep on. Now he changed back into his human form and quickly inspected her wounds. He sighed in relief as he saw that the superficial wounds already began to heal and he could determine few broken ribs and a heavy concussion. She would live! He knew with certainty that she would live. She just needed time to heal her wounds and seeing that she obviously fed enough, she would be back to normal until the morning. _Probably with a massive headache from the concussion, but otherwise all right._

He smiled at her and lay beside her. Luckily, the mattress, he scavenged, was from a queen sized bed and offered enough place for both of them. He gently repositioned Selene more to one side and made himself comfortable beside her. The smile never left his face while he gently intertwined his fingers with hers, kiss her tenderly on the forehead, the cheek and finally on her lips. She was back with him and she would be OK! That was all that mattered to him and he felt how his eyes slowly began to close. But there was still something he had to do before he fell asleep. He stretched to her again, kissed her and whispered: "I love you, Selene!" In next moment his eyes closed and he fell asleep. The exertions of the last few months finally took their toll and he slept like a baby. Well, maybe the feel of Selene's hand in his, the closeness of her body also did their magic.

XXXXXXXXXX

Selene slowly regained her senses. Without opening her eyes she groaned, feeling a terrible headache and she instantly remembered what happened. Her eyes flew open and after a second, needed to focus them on her surroundings, she realized that she wasn't where she fought the lycans anymore. She was lying on a soft mattress and she suddenly felt warmth, emanating from a body near her.

Her head jerked towards the source of warmth, but she instantly regretted harsh movement, for she felt like a spike would be driven through her brain. For a split second she saw nothing, everything went white, but it vanished quickly and she refocused on the body, lying next to her. The pain was forgotten as soon as she saw who was lying beside her.

Her big brown eyes widened uncontrollably and she gasped aloud in shock as she saw Michael's face only few centimeters from her own. His eyes opened abruptly as if he would have heard her gasp.

"Selene!" Michael needed just a split second to exclaim happily and threw his arms around Selene's body. "You're all right!"

"Michael? Is it really you? I'm not dreaming?" Selene's voice was quiet, but laced with so heavy emotions that she found it extremely difficult to control it. Feeling his arms around her body, she finally composed herself too and hugged him back, squeezing him like her life would depend on it.

"Yes, I'm here!" Michael talked no more. His hungry lips crashed on hers and he felt her immediate response. They both lost themselves in the vortex of emotions and nothing else mattered but the loved one.

If for last few months Selene felt like a cold, dead stone would be beating in her chest, she now knew that her heart was still very much alive. It beat so fast, she even feared it might jump out of her body. The taste of Michael's warm lips on hers, his exploring tongue in her mouth, they were the most beautiful sensations she ever experienced. Yes, she was back with her Michael, the long and cold months of living without her other half were over.

She moaned quietly into the kiss, not wanting it to ever end. Their bodies intertwined and just on the edge of her cognitive consciousness she remembered that she had some broken ribs the night before. Even if they'd still hurt, she wouldn't mind. Holding Michael close was something she would gladly risk anything for.

After few minutes, that seemed to them so long and too short at the same time, their lips separated and they pulled back a little to be able to look into each other's eyes. Selene's blue ones met Michael's almost black and they both knew in an instant what their reunion meant to them.

Selene's hand suddenly found itself on his cheek and her thumb caressed his face almost subconsciously. "I thought I'd lost you, Michael! I've been searching for you but I couldn't find you!" Her now again brown eyes filled with tears and they spilled over instantly. Tears of relief, tears of joy.

Michael's hand was now on her cheek too and he gently wiped the salty drops away: "I've been searching for you too. Ever since I woke up, I couldn't stop looking for my Selene."

A comfortable silence between two souls, finally being reunited again signified the next few minutes. They just looked deep into each other's eyes, enjoying the fact that they were together, conveying their feelings with just the looks. There were so many things they had to tell to each other, but there would be enough time later. At this moment they simply enjoyed the magic of their reunion.

Finally, after about ten minutes, Selene broke the silence. Her voice was soft, almost tentative: "Where were you Michael? I've searched the whole city and found no trace of you."

Michael smiled gently at his lover: "Here and there, Selene. I've searched the city too, but it seems that we have been searching in opposite directions."

Suddenly his face got dark and a breath caught in Selene's throat, fearing that something was wrong. "Michael? Is something wrong?" Her voice was quivering a little, something the strong vampiress never experienced before.

Michael looked at their intertwined hands for a moment and as he lifted his gaze to look into her worried and questioning eyes, he sighed: "I'm so sorry Selene!" He brought their hands to his lips and gently kissed the knuckles on her slender hand.

Selene was baffled, to say at least: "What? Why would you be sorry?"

"For not being there for you as you fought those lycans last night. You could have gotten killed and it would be my fault entirely."

Selene couldn't believe her ears. She shook her head as vigorously as she could considering the fact that she was still lying on the mattress: "Michael! It wasn't your fault in the least! You couldn't have known what I got myself into!" She paused and returned the same gesture as he did just few seconds ago … she kissed his knuckles. "It was my own fault that I ran into those beasts. I should have been more careful."

Michael smiled at her and shook his head barely visible: "You could have died, Selene! You could have died and I wouldn't even know what happened to you." His eyes suddenly looked wet like gemstones. The sheer thought of Selene dying caused him to feel the surge of panic and his heart almost fluttered.

Selene noticed that they were beginning to turn in a circle, so she decided that it would be time to stop the self loathing they were both succumbing to: "Michael, please. It's no use arguing about what could have been if. We're both here, we're both alive and we're together. And that's what counts, right?"

Her questioning and slightly challenging eyes turned to Michael and he could only smile in return and give her a nod.

Selene swung her feet to the side of the mattress and got up, regretting the abrupt action immediately. She stumbled slightly and if Michael hadn't stood up too and caught her around her waist, she would be in a real danger to fall back to the mattress. "I must be still suffering the consequences of the fight." Her apologetic murmur was barely audible, but Michael heard it perfectly.

"You've got yourself a heavy concussion, Selene. The other wounds have healed nicely, but your head might be throbbing for a while." He explained to her, carefully checking her eyes for any signs of problems. Satisfied that he found everything OK, he sighed contentedly, pulled her to himself and gave her a gentle kiss on the lips.

_Once a doctor, always a doctor! Even though he'd been turned not once but twice, he still remains a healer, not a killer! _Selene felt her heart swell at this thought and a sense of pride rose unstoppably in her chest. He would really do anything to take care of her. And she would do anything for him.

After their lips parted, she grabbed his shoulders for support to chase away slight dizziness. She steadied herself: "We should get going, Michael. I've got a safe house and there are two people I'd like you to meet."

Michael was surprised, to say it very politely. He didn't think that Selene would find some help in this apparently very changed world. He knew that the vampires were all in the hiding and he couldn't imagine how Selene would manage to find an ally. "Really?"

"Really!"

Michael couldn't overhear the slight note of mischievousness in Selene's voice, not the slight amusement in her eyes.

"And who am I supposed to meet?"

"You'll find out in due time. I wouldn't want to spoil the surprise." Selene now visibly grinned. Her headache and vertigo were almost gone and she felt strong enough to walk the distance to the safe house. She leaned to him and gave him a quick peck on the lips. "I promise it will be a pleasant surprise."

Michael had no doubts that it would be, especially upon seeing Selene's sparkling eyes. But then his gaze fell to her outfit. She wore the same style of outfit as so long ago as he first laid his eyes on her in that subway station. The look of her perfect, curvaceous body in a tight leather suit sent waves of desire through him … again. "I'm afraid that your attire isn't exactly the most suitable for a stroll through the city in broad daylight."

Selene looked at herself and sighed. She wore the outfit she never wore at day, but she hadn't expected to stay out of the safe house for so long. "I know. So I've been told few times already." Then she looked into Michael's eyes again: "I didn't expect to stay out until the daylight."

"I may have something for you." Michael let her out of the embrace, reassuring himself that she could stand on her own and stepped to the big chest in the corner of the room. He lifted the lid and rummaged through the contents for a second, before pulling out a long coat. He took a good look at it, nodded to himself satisfied and returned to Selene, who was still standing on the spot, he left her on, looking at him curiously. "Here, try this. It might be a little too big, but it will cover your too sexy catsuit."

"So, you think I'm too sexy?" Selene tilted her head slightly and asked playfully. Ever since she woke by Michael's side a short time ago, she felt how the ice around her heart melted away.

"Definitely! I wouldn't want too much prying eyes on you." Michael accepted the little game of love and trust. Then he got serious: "I know about the people being aware of vampires and lycans, Selene. In your catsuit you would be a center of attention and it could easily cause some too eager police officer or someone else, to assume your weren't human." He paused, thought for a second and added: "Even though they would never hold you for a vampire. A vampire in the daylight?" He shook his head resolutely: "No, they'd probably mistaken you for a lycan."

Selene shuddered at the thought someone might think she were a lycan. "No thank you! Anything else but lycan!" Then she remembered that Michael was part lycan too and looked at him apologetically.

But, before she could say anything, he smiled at her: "I understand you completely. Hell, I'm a part lycan but don't feel like one." Then he held the coat for Selene to put it on. After she was dressed, he turned her around and looked at her admiringly: "You look fantastic, Selene. If the coat was black, I'd feel like the first time we met."

Selene gave him a lopsided smile: "I remember. You were staring at me. The first human that held my gaze. Why were you staring at me, Michael?" She believed to know the answer, but she wanted to get a confirmation.

"Because you were the most beautiful and intriguing woman I've ever seen. I guess it was love at first sight, Selene." Michael answered honestly.

"Thank you!" Selene whispered, satisfied that she was right and she sounded almost a little shy.

"OK, now let's go, my love. Lead the way." Michael grabbed her hand and tugged her towards the door.

XXXXXXXXXX

"She should have been back by now!" Eve's voice was small and she looked at David wide-eyed. Nine hours passed since Selene left them in search for Michael and she didn't return yet. For the first four or five hours, Eve even managed to get some sleep, but now she'd been wide awake, pacing through the house, stopping at each window to see if her mother would appear from somewhere.

"I'm sure she's fine, Eve." David tried to comfort the young hybrid, but failed, mainly because of the fact that he shared her concerns. Selene should have been back by now! She had never been away for such a long time without letting them know that she was all right. But now, there was no sound from her and as Eve tried to call her, she only got the response that her mother's phone was unreachable at the moment.

Eve cast him a '_Do you really think I'm stupid_' look and stopped in front of the window again. The sun already shone through it and the day was already more than an hour old. She hesitated for just a second and then turned to David resolutely: "I'm going after her!"

David gaped at her for a brief moment before he answered: "Eve! You have no idea where to look for her! She could be anywhere. I really don't think that it's a good idea."

"I know all that, David." Eve cut him off with a heated voice. "But she's my mother and she never before vanished like this. Something must have happened to her." She paused to calm down a bit and added in normal voice: "She had been so strange last evening. Restless, anxious, like she'd be expecting something to happen."

David sighed defeated. He knew that he had no chance in hell to persuade the little hybrid to stay put. So, he made the only possible decision: "OK, right. But I'm going with you!"

Eve didn't object, she just nodded and waited for David to grab a jacket and put it on. She still sometimes wondered how it was possible that her mother and David could walk out in the sun as vampires. Selene once told her about the Corvinus strain in her blood, making her immune to sunlight. And it obviously passed on to David as she revived him.

"Let's go!" She exclaimed as she saw that David was ready. She stepped to the entrance door and opened it, only to find herself face to face with her mother and a strange man, holding her around the waist in more than obvious intimate manner.

The shock of seeing her mother after she believed that something must have happened to her was ever surpassed by the fact that her mother, who always acted like an ice queen when it came to men, was in an intimate hug with some men. It must be …

"Mom?" Eve gasped in surprise upon seeing her mother's smiling face. She didn't miss the look of shock, covering the strange man's face in an instant he heard how she addressed Selene.

Michael felt like he'd been hit by a lightning. The little girl addressed Selene as 'mom'? How? What did he miss? Was Selene with someone else? He felt like an avalanche would be carrying him with it and he turned his shocked eyes to Selene, just to see her smiling at him gently.

"Michael, meet our daughter, Eve."

TBC


End file.
